Ariz. town recalls fallen firefighters during 4th

PRESCOTT, Ariz. (AP) — As many in this Old West town used their Independence Day celebration to honor 19 fallen firefighters, bereaved families began speaking more publicly of their loved ones.

Coleen Turbyfill, mother of Travis Turbyfill, 27, on Thursday recalled that she had misgivings when her son's elite Hotshot firefighting crew set out for a blaze burning so close she could see the flames. Her son comforted her, telling her, "This is what I love."

Turbyfill and his 18 colleagues were killed Sunday battling the wildfire south of here in Yarnell, not far from the place they called home.

A day after Prescott remembered their brothers, there were several signs of progress Friday at the blaze.

Firefighters have contained enough of the wildfire that they began sending crews home and are preparing to let evacuated residents return to Yarnell. More than 100 of about 700 homes in the town have been destroyed by the fire.

On Friday, 550 people were fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire, now 80 percent contained. That's down from 680 firefighters the day before. Remaining crews were building more fire lines in the rugged, rocky terrain and making sure the blaze didn't spread.

Electric power and propane company crews were to begin restoring service and inspecting gas tanks for leaks or other damage.

"(They're) trying to make it safe when the people come back to stop in and go about their lives," said fire management team spokesman Jim Whittington.

Authorities hope to allow Yarnell residents to return home on Saturday.

The weather was relatively calm overnight with cloud cover Friday morning and increased humidity, but a change in weather was predicted, Whittington said. Weather in recent days had thunderstorms forming to the east and north of the fire area, but thunderstorms expected later Friday could come from the south, from the Phoenix area, he said.

"So we'll have to be watching our southern flank," he said. "We have to be heads up on that."

Sudden wind shifts turned the fire on the Hotshots crew on Sunday.

The firefighters had been sent to what appeared to be a manageable lightning-caused forest fire near the small town of Yarnell, about 60 miles northwest of Phoenix. Violent winds fueled the blaze and trapped the team. The Hotshots deployed their emergency fire shelters, but only the crew's lookout survived.

A red-eyed Amanda Marsh called a press conference Thursday to make her first public statements about her husband, Hotshot leader and founder Eric Marsh.

"Eric and I don't have children but he said that all the men on the crew were his kids," she told reporters at the local high school, a row of 16 firefighters standing behind her for support.

Across town, more than 10,000 residents found release for days' worth of pent-up emotion as they watched fireworks, danced to patriotic songs and shouted "America!" whenever the mood struck.

"It's a relief," said resident Todd Lynd as he watched a band play in front of a banner commemorating the fallen firefighters. "It's hard to heal by yourself."

The celebration — traditionally the biggest day of the year in this city of 40,000 — played out against a backdrop of handmade memorials, including clusters of 19 mini-American flags on grass lawns and rows of 19 candles glowing in packed restaurants.

Families of the Hotshots watched the fireworks together but apart from the crowd, escorted by police to a separate viewing area.

On Saturday, the town will hold its traditional July Fourth parade featuring cowboys on horses winding around the elm-lined courthouse square.

The men's bodies, still in Phoenix for the autopsies, are expected to arrive on Sunday. Each firefighter will be driven in a hearse accompanied by motorcycle escorts and American flags.

A memorial service planned for Tuesday in nearby Prescott Valley is expected to draw thousands.

Sunday's tragedy raised questions of whether the usual precautions would have made any difference in the face of triple-digit temperatures, erratic winds and tinderbox conditions. A team of forest managers and safety experts is investigating.

While firefighters and support personnel have focused on the fire itself, "there's still an issue of what happened here" Sunday, Whittington said.